Author: Ashley Saylor

Roots and Wings is now accepting public applications for new members.
You can register via the website.Please be aware that spaces for the morning session, any age 9 and under, are extremely limited.
You will be notified via email in the beginning of January if there is space for your child.
Thank you for your interest in Roots and Wings Homeschool Cooperative.
You can private message us on Facebook with any questions. Due to the holiday season and many people spending time on vacation or with family, please allow extra time for a response. Thank you.

Here are the class descriptions for spring 2016. This is a lengthy post, so make sure to keep scrolling to find your age group. When you are ready to register please click HERE, or click on Registration Information under Co-Op classes.

Age 2 and under (Total cost for semester: $10/student)

Session 3, Session 4, & Session 5:

10:00-12:00 Nursery Time
Playtime in the nursery with assigned parents.

Ages 2 & 3 (Total cost for semester: $10/student)

Session 3, Session 4, & Session 5:

10:00-12:00 (Teacher: all parents cooperate to teach a class each week)
The 2 and 3 year olds will participate in story/craft/sensory activities. Children participate in a variety of fine motor and gross motor activities. There is also plenty of time for exploration and play.

Come join us as we learn about how living things grow and develop. The focus for this class will be on the life cycles of butterflies, fish & plants. Students will learn through age-appropriate literature and hands-on activities.

Session 4:
The Five Senses (Teacher: Erica M)

You use them every day to get to know and understand the world around you. What
are they? Your senses! The five senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and
touching — help us to learn about our surroundings. Each week students will explore one of the five senses. We will have a special taste-testing food exploration on the fifth week!

In this class we will study poems and Camille Saint-Saene’s classic musical work “The Carnival of the animals” to learn about the basic foundations of music such as instrument families, music characteristics (loud vs soft, fast vs slow), and how composers can use music to tell stories. Students will practice the music characteristics and learn basic call and response with shakers and rhythm sticks, which they will be able to keep at the end of the session. Each week we will read a poem and then listen to a movement of music. We will use the music to retell the story. Students will be exposed to a sampling of real instruments and will have the opportunity to create their own.
Students will also participate in a 30 minute yoga class each week from 11:00-11:30 (teacher: Kate) during all three sessions.

Ages 6 & 7 (Total cost for semester: $30/student)
Session 3:

10:00-11:30 A trip around the world (Teachers: Monica & Tracy)

Each week, the children will explore a new country. They will learn about geography, culture, art, music, currency and other fun facts. The class will be filled with hands-on activities which will ignite their curiosity about this big world we live in.
11:30-12:00 Yoga

Session 4:
10:00-11:30 Want to be an artist in reading class?! (Teacher: Stephanie S & Lindsey R) Want to be an artist in reading class?! This session you will have that chance! We will be building literacy through reading and comprehension strategies all while using story elements in fairy takes, folktales and/or short stories. You will learn how to apply these skills as a reader (and writer) and then have the opportunity to integrate different mediums of art to these stories. Come eager to work with your hands to create artwork that will tell a story for the eyes to behold.
11:30-12:00 Yoga

Session 5:
10:00-10:45
Hands-on Learning: Human Body (Teacher: Amy I)
Let’s learn the systems of the body “by heart” through a series of crafts and activities that will demonstrate learning through building lungs, a spine, heart and more out of everyday materials! Since we are more likely to remember what we DO, we will study the body through making and doing!

10:45-11:30
Let’s Learn about Nutrition (Teacher: Kelly V)
In this class, students will learn various ways the foods we eat can affect our bodies. We will discuss the importance of eating balanced meals, how to read nutrition labels, and why we should try to reduce our sugar intake. We will also have a couple of hands-on cooking activities during the session.
11:30-12:00 Yoga

Ages 8 & 9 (total cost for semester $29/student)

Session 3
R&W Creative University: Thinkology 101- (teacher: Amy I)
How fast can you name 10 bald men? Twenty uses for a hanger? Ten towns that include a color in the name? Stretch your creative muscles through a series of quick-thinking activities such as improv games, short art/writing projects, word games and problem-solving challenges, while learning a bit about parts of the brain and ways to build superb neurological connections. Challenge your focus, self-control, deductive-reasoning, strategic planning and creative flow through teamwork and group participation as well as individual projects and presentation. Activities will include challenges like inventing an animal, collage art, games as seen on Whose Line is it Anyway, chess and brain-waking movements and warm ups. Buckle up for creative brain-boosting fun where no idea is too zainy!
Session 4

50 States (teacher: Rebecca K)
This class will have students interacting with various aspects of US Geography – mapping skills, historical landmarks, special geographical features and other cultural fun-facts that make our 50 states such a unique place to call home!

Colonial Kids
Saddle up your horses and shine your boots, we’re going on an adventure back in time! Have fun learning about history with activities from colonial times. We will read stories and do activities from this time period. We will also take a look at what was going on in Indiana at this time with the Indiana State Museum’s Educational trunk – Covered Wagon. This activity trunk will take a wagon ride from Pennsylvania to Indiana in 1816. Using a model covered wagon and miniature materials, students will learn about the hard decisions pioneers made to travel to the newly formed state on the western frontier of the United States.
Field Trip ideas : Conner Prairie

Session 5

Art with the Elements (teacher: Stephanie S)
This session, students will be introduced to the basic elements of art (color, line, shape, form, and texture). They will discover how artists use these elements in different ways in their work. Meaningful discussions are sure to occur as they look carefully at paintings and sculpture to identify the elements and analyze how they are used by different artists. Inspired by these discoveries, the students will then create their own pieces incorporating one or more of these elements at a time.

Ages 10-12 (Total cost for semester: $40 per student)

Session 3

10 – 10:15 Yearbook (Teacher: Michelle M)
This is a year-long project in which students will work individually and as a team to create a fun, innovative, and visually pleasing yearbook for the entire co-op. Students will learn the purpose and the concept of a unifying theme, graphic design, interviewing and reporting, writing and editing, and photography. Students will learn layout in manual mockups and digital yearbook design software. Students are invited to bring personal laptops and digital cameras. Homework may be assigned.

10:15 – 11:45 The Selfie Meets Self Expression
Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once (s)he grows up.” You are growing up, but art can always be a part of you if you always continue to use it to express who you are. It is one of the best ways to understand and share who you are with the rest of the world. This session you will begin to find new ways to do just that and walk away with some selfies within your very own “facebook” unlike any you’ve ever seen.

11:45 – 12:00 Yearbook

Session 4
10:00 – 11:30 Intro to Cooking (Teacher: Lindie)
Would you like to learn how to prepare snacks and meals that will be sure to impress your friends and family? Then this is the class for you! You will explore the basics of cooking prep along with learning about various kitchen tools. (We aren’t allowed to use the stove or oven, so it’ll be something that doesn’t need to be cooked or will be taken home to cook) Each week, you will bring home something edible for your family to enjoy (appetizer, dinner, dessert, etc.). The teacher will send an email each week with a list of ingredients and kitchen tools that need to be brought to class.

11:30 – 12:00 Red Herring Mysteries
Do you have an inner Sherlock Holmes waiting to be developed? Then try your hand with the Red Herring Mysteries! These puzzle mysteries will help you develop your inferential and deductive thinking skills. You will solve mysteries just like a real detective – by learning to ask questions and form logical conclusions. By encouraging creative brainstorming and flexible thinking, these activities will change the way you think.

Session 5
10:00 – 10:15 Yearbook
This is a year-long project in which students will work individually and as a team to create a fun, innovative, and visually pleasing yearbook for the entire co-op. Students will learn the purpose and the concept of a unifying theme, graphic design, interviewing and reporting, writing and editing, and photography. Students will learn layout in manual mockups and digital yearbook design software. Students are invited to bring personal laptops and digital cameras. Homework may be assigned.

10:15 – 11:45 Good ol’ Hoosier Hospitality – Things that make Indiana great!
Besides you, of course! We’ll spend each class session with one of the Indiana History trunks available through the Indiana State Museum. These educational trunks are full of hands-on activities to help us learn about Indiana’s art, science, and culture. The interactive trunks include props like books, artifacts, posters, and activities.
We’ll be doing:
Indiana’s Native Americans – Learn about the native peoples, cultures, and significant events of Indiana before and just after the arrival of Europeans and Americans.
Folk Art: Indiana Stories and Traditions – Discover folk art in everyday life. Hands–on activities including art, games, and books bring us in touch with their heritage.
The Hoosier Group – Learn about Indiana’s popular “Hoosier Group”: five painters, including T.C. Steele, who specialized in Impressionist art at the turn of the 20th century. We will have fun playing a unique board game, hosting an art show, and completing other exciting, hands-on activities.
Indiana in Lincoln’s Time – Journey back to 1816 and experience what life was like for pioneers in the new state of Indiana, including Abraham Lincoln and his family. Hands-on activities recreate settlers’ everyday experiences. We will plant an herb garden, try our hand at some 19th century music, use instruments to survey land, and more.

We’ll end the session with the giant traveling map of Indiana presented by GENI (Geography Educators Network of Indiana)

11:45 am – 12 pm Yearbook

Teens (total cost for semester is $51/student)

Session 3:

10:00-12:00 Strategic Gaming-cost (Lindie)
A strategy game is defined as a game that will rely on strategy (not luck) in determining the course of the game. This means that players’ decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome of the game. In this class, your teen will be introduced to a variety of strategic games. Each week we’ll explore a new game and learn how to play by the written rules. We will use critical thinking to analyze the mechanics and strategy of each game while working both cooperatively and independently.

Session 4:

10:00-11:00 Modern History and Current Events (Rebecca H)
This class will combine current events and recent history with critical thinking. We will discuss what’s happening in the world, what historical facts might relate to current events, and consider where we as citizens fit into both. It will be an interactive class with discussion and a variety of resources. While we will share our own opinions, the materials will be based in facts and multiple sides of any issue discussed will be presented.
11:00-12:00
Social Consciousness – What the World Doesn’t revolve around me? (Carla)
This class will look at some ways in which we can think globally and act locally to be conscientious and considerate citizens. We will look at personal, family, community, government and global awareness issues; with trips to and guest speakers from local organizations that can help encourage us to be better citizens of and for this planet.
Session 5:

10:00-11:00 Modern History and Current Events (teacher: Rebecca H)
This class will combine current events and recent history with critical thinking. We will discuss what’s happening in the world, what historical facts might relate to current events, and consider where we as citizens fit into both. It will be an interactive class with discussion and a variety of resources. While we will share our own opinions, the materials will be based in facts and multiple sides of any issue discussed will be presented.

11:00-12:00 Optical Illusion Art (Teacher: Lindie)
In this class, students will learn what an optical illusion is and how the eyes can play tricks on the brain. Students will also be introduced to artwork by various Optical illusion artists. We will focus on art concepts such as the color wheel, complimentary colors, line, and asymmetry. Each week, students will begin creating an optical illusion project that will need to be completed at home and brought back to class for discussion the following week.

The fall semester starts this coming Wednesday, September 2, at 10:00am! Please plan to arrive between 9:30 and 9:45 am and gather in the basement. Like last year, we will dismiss classes by age group. They will go with their lead teacher to their classroom. Parents can take little ones to the nursery. Looking forward to an awesome new semester!

Just a few very friendly reminders for the semester:

Morning classes begin promptly at 10am so please plan to arrive approx 15 minutes early to unload and get settled before classes begin.

Parents are expected to stay and participate during classes. Your class coordinators should be getting with you soon to let you know where you are assigned to help out.

There are tables available on the lower level of the church if you would like to stay and have lunch. Please remember to help clean up any spills or messes that might happen.

If you haven’t already, please let Carla know if you are planning on staying for afternoon class. Parents are also expected to stay and participate in afternoon classes.

We are looking forward to seeing all our returning families and meeting the new families who will be joining us. The classes for fall look fantastic. We are looking forward to an awesome semester! 🙂

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for—Registration for new families is now open!!! (cue the cheers!)

In order to register, please follow the following steps:

1. Complete the online registration form. It is located under the registration tab. The form will ask for a password. The password is: Summer15! You MUST include the exclamation point or it will not accept your password.

2. Registration will be open until August 19th. You will be notified no later than August 24th as to wether you have been accepted. We would love love love to accept every interested family into our co-op, but unfortunately we must put a cap on class sizes due to space constraints of our facility.

3. Please wait to pay until you have received confirmation from one of our members that you have been accepted. Once you receive that confirmation you can pay by check or paypal.
We are so excited for the new school year and we can’t wait to meet all of our new families!!! 🙂

Current Members: Please check your email for information about pre-registration for Fall co-op classes! If you are interested in Fall co-op classes make sure to complete your registration soon. Any spots open on Wednesday afternoon will be opened up to new members.

New Members: Open registration for Fall co-op classes will begin Wednesday afternoon. We will be meeting Wednesday morning to see how many spots we have open in each class.

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We meet in Broad Ripple for classes and most of our events are usually around north side.

We do most of our planning and communication through Facebook. That's the best place to get in contact with us!